


The Strongest Connections

by Skylar0Grace



Category: The Pretender
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-22
Updated: 2011-06-22
Packaged: 2017-11-27 15:24:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/663544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skylar0Grace/pseuds/Skylar0Grace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes night is the only time we can rest.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Strongest Connections

**Author's Note:**

> Song is ‘Sweet Dreams’ by Air Supply. I scribed the lyrics so if there are any mistakes, they’re mine - and I’ve probably been singing them that way my whole life :P

“Thank you.”

He heard her soft intake of breath from over the phone and he waited while she collected her thoughts. His hands brushed over the piece of paper in his laps, his fingers tracing the face of his mother. 

He almost never stayed back as long as he did today. But a part of him had just wanted to see if she’d show; to see if she could find him. It was risky but he’d seen her frustration in not catching him change to curiosity as she waited until the team had headed back to the cars before slipping an envelope into the mailbox on what used to be his front door. He’d waited three hours before moving, three hours to make sure it wasn’t some elaborate trap.

It was almost as if he could hear her shrug from his end. “Something I just came across. It was in a file... one my mother had put together and hidden before she died.”

He wanted to hold onto her. He knew how much she was hurting, how much they both were, and that the only way they would ever find closure would be to uncover all secrets the Centre had hidden away. Until then, they would both be searching whilst one tracked and the other hid.

  
_This is the time when you need a friend, you just need someone near_   
_I’m not looking forward to the night I’ll spend thinking of you when you’re not here_   
_How many times will I think about the things I’d like to do_   
_Always denied the right to live my life the way I want, I want to share it with you_   


She pulled the blanket further up her body as she settled against the pillows on her bed. It wasn’t the first time she’d gotten a phone call from Jarod and it wouldn’t be the last. If the Centre had any idea that they were speaking on the phone, they’d undoubtedly start making sure each call was traced - not that it would do any good. He was too good for that. Besides, the calls were the only time they had out of the cat and mouse game they’d been forced into and she’d never give them up.

“Jarod...”

The words got caught in her throat as she tried to vocalise what was going on in her head. But like always, he seemed to know and the silence that followed was companionable. He asked about her latest gift from him and she regaled him with humourous tales. They never talked about the chase; not where he was or how close to finding him they were. The calls weren’t for that and they both seemed to know it.

  
_I think of your kiss as the days roll by and I write the words you love_   
_And what I can’t say in a letter will just have to wait ‘til I get home_   
_There’s not much time to tell you half the things that I should_   
_Only that I’m so glad I fell in love with you and I’d do it again if I could_   


She yawned again and Jarod smiled. They hadn’t been on the phone long, they never were, but she must have been tired. She hadn’t looked like she’d been sleeping properly when he’d seen her earlier and had they had anything more than a “You run, I chase” relationship on the surface, he might have said something.

Instead, he took over the conversation with an anecdote about someone he’d met once until he heard the soft sounds of her sleeping. He whispered a soft ‘goodnight’ into the phone and hung up. Jarod put his phone on the bedside table and as he lay down on the bed, he didn’t even give a cursory glance at the bioengineering book beside him. He closed his eyes and fell into a dreamless sleep.

  
_Sleep, like a child, resting deep, you don’t know what you give me I keep_   
_For these moments alone_   


His little hands covered hers and she looked up at him with big eyes.

“I had a nightmare. Daddy was falling and I couldn’t help him.”

His smile brought comfort to her and she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. There was a beat when he didn’t seem to know exactly how to respond before she felt his arms circle around her and she softly sighed, feeling better than she had since before the nightmare. She snuggled once into his shoulder before she pulled back and eyes watched her as she back across from him.

“Thank you.” he said, tilting his head a little to the right.

She smiled. She should really be the one thanking him for easing her fears but she seemed to understand what he was talking about and she gave him a single nod before she remembered that she’d already stayed too long. She quickly stood and snuck back out the way she’d snuck in and as she looked over her shoulder before leaving she saw a small smile make its way onto his face.

  
_Close your eyes, I want to ride the skies in my sweet dreams_   
_Close your eyes, I want to see you tonight in my sweet dreams_   



End file.
